


The Gifts We Give

by Lalikaa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (partially), Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cute, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 16:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalikaa/pseuds/Lalikaa
Summary: A brief through-the-years glimpse of Yamaguchi and Tsukishima exchanging gifts, from past to future!





	The Gifts We Give

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! Made it just in time! I really struggled thinking of an idea (much like Yamaguchi lol) for this fic, so I ended up going with a simple gift giving theme! Written for Panda for the Haikyuu!! Secret Santa Exchange! I hope this is fluffy enough, Panda! xD;; Hope you all enjoy! <3

Their first Christmas, Tadashi had been shy. He wasn’t even sure if he _should_ get Kei something, but the idea of getting him nothing made his stomach feel tight. Still, Tadashi wasn’t sure his parents would give him money to buy a Christmas present for a classmate, even if Kei was, in Tadashi’s eyes, his first friend. In the end, Tadashi was too nervous to ask them. Instead, he sat on the edge of his bed a few days before Christmas, fuzzy-socked feet dangling, staring in earnest around his room for some sort of inspiration.

He could make an origami animal, but Tadashi was terrible at paper folding. He considered simply making a card, but his art also left something to be desired. His eyes slid over his bookshelf, past his Pokemon guide books- wait! Maybe he could give Kei a legendary Pokemon card? That would be cool, right?

Though… he wasn’t sure if Kei liked Pokemon. Tadashi had never seen him trading cards or even playing it on his DS or anything, at least.

But then, Tadashi's eyes fell on his rock collection. Tadashi had been collecting rocks since he was four years old, and in his opinion, he’d built up a pretty significant number of various types, branching out to gemstones, too. His favorite was one his aunt had gotten him at National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo; a small, smooth green piece of jade.  

As much as Tadashi appreciated the jade, he was sure Kei would appreciate it just as much. Tadashi stood up suddenly, a sense of purpose flooding him. He grabbed a tissue from his bedside table, then carefully wrapped the small stone in it. He went downstairs to the kitchen in search of some string or thread, and was semi-successful in finding some twine in the “miscellaneous” drawer.

Tadashi tried to tie the twine in a bow around the jade, but his hands kept slipping. He opted for a triple-knot instead; it certainly didn’t look pretty, but it did the job.

On the ever-increasingly familiar walk over to Kei’s house, Tadashi began, inevitably, to worry that his gift was dumb. He turned around and then back again a total of five times at various points among the path. Tadashi forced himself to think of things in a positive light; “ _What’s the worst that can happen?”_ His mom would say.

_That Kei won’t want to be my friend anymore and will make fun of me like everyone else._

Tadashi considered this. In his opinion, this was a rather hefty, and possibly very likely, outcome. Before Tadashi could consider this option even further, though, the door to Kei’s home opened before he even reached the front step.

“Hey, Tadashi-kun!” Akiteru, Kei’s older (and cooler) brother greeted him. “I saw you walking up from the window! Come in!”

“Hi, Akiteru-kun!” Tadashi said, feeling relieved that it wasn’t Kei right away. “Is Kei-kun home? I brought him a present. For- for Christmas…” He wavered slightly, clutching his gift behind his back.

Akiteru beamed. “Kei, Tadashi’s here! He got you a preseeeeent!!”

Tadashi heard a faint _thump-thump-thump_ from up above, then the _thump_ ’s got increasingly louder as Kei came downstairs, sliding into the front area from the bottom step. Tadashi noticed that in one hand he was holding a glittery, medium-sized gift bag.

Tadashi had to fight every instinct he had not to immediately turn and run, though he couldn’t stop his cheeks from flushing red in embarrassment.

Kei didn’t seem to notice this though; “Hi, Tadashi-kun, I got you a present too, see?” He held up the bag over this head to ensure full visibility.

“Yeah, wow, thanks!” Tadashi stuttered, still hiding his gift to Kei behind his back.

“Well? Come on and open it!” Kei said, slightly impatiently.

“Kei, be nice,” Akiteru started.

“Yeah, well, please come in,” Kei tried again.

Tadashi kicked off his shoes and followed Kei and Akiteru into their living room.

“Mom and Dad dropped over to the neighbor’s to visit,” Akiteru said, answering the question that he saw forming in Tadashi’s head when the younger boy tried peering into the kitchen.

“Okkk, Tadashi-kun, here’s my present,” Kei said, pushing the glittery bag at Tadashi, who had opted to put the jade in his back pocket.

_Stupid, you could’ve gone to the store to buy a ribbon at least…_

“Thanks, Kei-kun,” he said instead, voice slightly warbly.

Tadashi reached into the bag, and pulled out one of what seemed to be at least a dozen… gashapon?

“See?” Kei said, lowering the bag for Tadashi to see inside. “It’s-”

“Kei, just let him look!” Akiteru laughed.

Wordlessly, Tadashi let Kei hold the gift bag while he opened the bright orange gashapon in his hand to reveal a green frog-shaped eraser.

“Wow, awesome!” Tadashi breathed.

“But that’s not- hang on,” Kei said, sifting through the gashapon, finally pulling out a bright yellow ball with a blue star sticker that he’d clearly put on himself. Kei handed it to Tadashi and said simply, “Open it.”

Tadashi did, and then let out a small gasp; inside was a small brown and white terrier-shaped eraser.

Before Tadashi could say anything, Kei put in; “It’s the one you said you really wanted, remember? The one you were trying to get? Me and my big brother went back to Shimada Mart and kept putting in yen until we got the right one. But we did it! Well, except now you do have a bunch of chickens and horses and stuff too, but you collect these, right? Do you like it?”

“Right,” Tadashi said with a wobbly smile. “Thanks- Thank you so much, Kei-kun, I love them.”

“So, what’d you get me?” Kei said, not hiding his eagerness.

“Kei…” Akiteru started again.

“I mean, uh,” Kei struggled, trying to think of a more polite way to say that he wanted a present.

“H-here!” Tadashi said, thrusting the tissue-paper wrapped gemstone into Kei’s hand.

Kei tore the tissue around the twine, and the jade easily slipped into his hand.

There was a moment of silence where Tadashi considered how socially unacceptable it would be to burst into tears at a friend’s house, though Kei interrupted this thought process by saying; “Woah, cool! This is a gem, right? What’s it called?”

“It’s- it’s jade, so- so… I hope you like it,” he finished lamely.

“It’s neat! Thanks!”

Tadashi blushed, then gave a wide grin and replied, “You’re welcome! Merry Christmas!”

~*~

And so their Christmases went: Kei getting Tadashi incredibly thoughtful gifts, and Tadashi getting Kei what he felt were not nearly as comparably nice presents in return.

In middle school one year, Tadashi had bought Kei a book on reptiles, while Kei had given Tadashi a planner that he had personally mapped out for the next school year, a particular date marked during Golden Week where he had arranged for Akiteru to take them to Sendai.

Their last year of high school, Tadashi had used a good amount of his savings buying Kei brand new headphones, despite his parents telling him he should focus on saving for college instead. However, when Tadashi made his way over to Kei’s Christmas Day, he was devastated to see Kei open the front door wearing brand new headphones around his neck. Upon opening the headphones Tadashi gave him though, Kei immediately switched them out, insisting that the headphones Tadashi had bought him had _much_ better sound quality, and they’d be _way_ better for traveling. Kei had then given Tadashi three mix CDs, one for each year of high school, using songs that he felt highlighted and defined their high school experience, along with concert tickets to their favorite band.

Tadashi had a really hard time not crying.

~*~

And now, here Tadashi was, at age 23, four days before Christmas, struggling to think of a good enough gift for Kei. The year before, he had taken Kei to Disney Sea (which ok, had more been for him, but you know), and the year before that, he’d gotten Kei a pet gecko (which, frankly, Tadashi was afraid he might never be able to top).

He’d tried calling Akiteru for ideas, but he’d only recieved a; “ _He’ll love anything you get him, stop overthinking it!_ ”

Which was too bad, because Tadashi was _really_ good at overthinking things.

After consulting Yachi, Tadashi had settled on matching embroidered robes. Was it an old man kind of gift? Yes. But hadn’t Kei been complaining about how cold their apartment in Sendai was? Also yes. So would Kei love nothing more than a fluffy embroidered robe?

Maybe…?

But at this point, he was out of options and ideas. He dropped his information and request off at the local specialty clothing store on his way home from work one day, with an assurance from the shop that it would be ready to pick up within 2 days, cutting it a bit close, as Tadashi and Kei had planned to celebrate their personal Christmas on Christmas Eve.

What Tadashi had not been prepared for was to arrive at the specialty clothing shop on the night of December 23rd, to the unfortunate news that the robes would not be ready until after Christmas Day, as the head embroider had fallen ill while the other embroider was on vacation.

Well. This is what he got for procrastinating. Tadashi tried not to think of the excellent present Kei was sure to gift him when he had nothing to give in return. He kicked the snow on the ground as he walked home, his shoes scuffing the rough sidewalk as he did so.

“Welcome home,” Kei called from the kitchen as Tadashi kicked off his shoes at the door.

“Heeey,” Tadashi answered blearily, walking into the kitchen and giving Kei a hug from behind. “How was your day?”

“Better, now,” Kei said in the infuriatingly romantic tone that he used whenever he wanted to melt Tadashi’s heart.

“Mmmm, me too,” Tadashi said, still leaning into Kei’s back.

The two enjoyed a quiet dinner of rice, curry, and hot tea, sharing a space under their kotatsu. Kei played soft jazz music on his phone, and they watched the snow flurry outside from their living room window. The two held hands under the warm kotatsu, and in that moment, Tadashi felt completely serene.

“Hey, Tadashi…” Kei said suddenly.

“Mm?”

Kei fidgeted his hands a bit; a habit he had still yet to break. “Well, so, this year… your gift might come a little later than Christmas Eve. I may have, uh, procrastinated.”

A bubble of relieved laughter escaped Tadashi, which led to a fit of giggles.

“Hey!” Kei sputtered, clearly taken aback.

“No, sorry, Tsukki, it’s just- your gift is gonna be late, too! And it’s not even a cool gift, it’s-”

“Well, don’t ruin the surprise!” Kei said, with the slightest hint of indignation in his voice. 

"I won't, I won't," Tadashi assured. 

"Good," Kei huffed. He then reached in his pocket and pulled something bright blue and round out of it.

Tadashi blinked.

"I- I got this for you to, to- well, for now, anyway," Kei said, tripping over his words far more than usual.

Tadashi took the gashapon from his boyfriend's hand, slowly opening it to reveal a small alligator-shaped eraser. 

"It- it was a stupid idea, just forget it," Kei said quickly as Tadashi continued to say nothing. "I just thought-"

He was promptly cut off by Tadashi tackle-hugging him to the floor, jolting the kotatsu a considerable amount.

"Kei- thank you, I love it!" Tadashi then proceeded to plant a kiss on Kei's cheek. 

Kei responded by kissing him back, though on the lips this time. When they finally broke apart, Kei said;

"Merry Christmas, Tadashi."

"Merry Christmas, my love."

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! :D


End file.
